“It was a time when the norn and the jotun were not like you see us today. Our kingdoms were the most advanced in the entire world. We protected and defended other races.”

– Thruln the Lost

The Age of Giants is another vague and questionable period of time in the early history of Guild Wars. Only the jotun stelae and the dwarven legends remain as records of these ancient times in Tyria. It was a time when the giant races of Tyria ruled over the land, and the Jotun and Norn ruled the Shiverpeak Mountains. The Elder Dragons, having now begun their slumber, posed no threat to Tyria allowing the giant races to flourish.

Thruln the Lost at the Great Lodge.

Currently there exists a jotun storyteller in the Great Lodge who tells tales of this age, striving to remind the people of who the jotun once were, of the power and advancements they wielded. Although he may not be credible as he is quick to point blame and sounding overdramatic, he is surely passionate, and longs to speak of his ancestors past to anyone willing to listen. His name is Thruln the Lost.

Thruln the Lost speaks of the age when the giants ruled Tyria, and the jotun were superior to all races. Although he shows much pride in his tales of the jotun he doesn’t leave out the presence of the norn through this age. The other giant races throughout Tyria also had great power, ruling lands of their own. With the Elder Dragons hibernating, the races rebuilt; the jotuns built great kingdoms, some of the most advanced in the world.

Going off what Thruln the Lost speaks of, the Age of Giants existed some where after the Elder Dragons retreated to their sleep until sometime after the human gods arrived on Tyria. Although it is unknown when the dragons ended their reign of destruction on the world, we can speculate that the Age of Giants existed from the end of the dragons destruction until sometime before 1 BE, when the gods gifted the humans with magic.

Thruln the Lost speaks of the arrival of the humans and their origins, however that is a story for another time. When the human gods came to Tyria, they favoured the jotun and gifted them with magics and knowledge of mechanical and magical technologies. Thruln the Lost explains that the jotun were soon gaining on the gods in their power, causing the gods to threaten to take magic away from them entirely, fearing they would use it against them. This caused confusion and the beginnings of civil war among the jotuns.

Soon the humans, who the gods once did not care about due to their primitivity, noticed their rise of intelligence and the beginnings of a great culture. Unhappy with the civil break outs of the jotun, they took magic from them when they filtered it, giving it to their favoured races. Although there exists other theories for the decline of the jotuns civilisation other than that of the stories offered by Thruln the Lost, the Age of Giants ended when the gods took magic from them.

The jotun, having their magic stolen, lost everything. In their confusion at the betrayal of

Statues of the Norns Spirits of the Wild, found at the entrance of Hoelbrak.

the gods, they lost hope of being the great culture that they once were. The norn however, turned to their Spirits of the Wild, admittedly preserving their future as a great race.

Early history, nor Thruln the Lost, shows what happened to the other ruling races during the Age of Giants. Their reign could have also ended by being unfavored by the human gods and having magic taken from them.

If we have the chance to encounter more information about the Age of Giants throughout Guild Wars 2, or more notably, the jotuns and the power they once wielded, don’t doubt seeing many great revelations of some intricate mysteries woven into the story of Guild Wars.